1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to operatory lighting. It is particularly directed to lights used to illuminate the oral cavity, and provides a novel handle structure for such lights.
2. State of the Art
Surgical lighting is a well developed field. Generally, such lights include a head assembly mounted on an articulating structure to permit spatial repositioning of the light head as appropriate. One or more lamps are mounted within a housing of the assembly to emit light through a lens. The lens functions as a physical barrier to prevent contact with a hot light source. It also functions in many cases to diffuse, and in some instances to filter, the light. Some head configurations incorporate a mechanical system for focusing the light by manipulating the relative orientations of a plurality of individually mounted lamps. Typical surgical lights and their manner of use are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,316,237 and 4,878,156.
One or more handles are typically carded by the light head to facilitate spatial reorientations of the head. The handles of a surgical light may be integral with the light head. Modem lights usually are equipped with removable handles, however. The handles may be sterilized prior to reuse. In other instances, the handles are provided as, or replaced by, interchangeable, pre sterilized, disposable structures. The aforesaid '156 patent, for example, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, discloses a quick-release focusing handle which may be provided in either sterilizable or disposable form.
Surgical lights used in dental operatories are somewhat specialized in design. The partially seated postures typical of a dental patient in a patient chair differ from the supine position typical of a medical patient lying on a table. Oral surgery imposes a special requirement of providing excellent illumination for an oral cavity. A dental operatory differs in arrangement from a typical medical operatory; fewer personnel are involved in most dental surgeries, and an oral surgeon thus tends to be more proactive in positioning the light.
A dental light is usually focused by positioning the lens at the appropriate distance and orientation with respect to the oral cavity of a patient. Accordingly, the surgeon or dental assistant may find it necessary to grasp the handles associated with the light head from time to time during a procedure, particularly if the patient's head is repositioned. The handles are thereby contaminated.
The importance of maintaining sterile or aseptic conditions in a dental operatory has been increasingly well recognized. Certain expedients which have been adopted for maintaining clean conditions in a dental operatory are discussed by the introductory portions of U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,058, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
The '058 patent discloses in particular a quick-release dental light handle. The handle is constructed to be detachable for sterilization and reuse. The provision of a sterilizable handle is responsive to the reality that dental light handles inevitably become contaminated during a procedure. A drawback of the specific handle structure disclosed by the '058 patent is its size. A large sterilizer is required effectively to process such a large device. Sterilization equipment of this size is not routinely available to dental operatories.
A troublesome inconvenience is experienced by dental surgeons when attempting properly to position and orient the lens of a dental light. Handles are ordinarily provided at opposite sides of the light head to facilitate positioning from either side of the patient chair. The dentist simply grasps the handle and moves the light head to the desired distance from the patient's oral cavity. Unfortunately, movement of the light head in this fashion inevitably disturbs the directional orientation of the lens. Significant additional manipulations are generally required to achieve a proper reorientation.
There remains a need for a quick-release handle structure for dental lights which avoids the drawbacks of available such handles. Specifically, there is a need for a handle of relatively small size and of a configuration which assists one repositioning the light head to bring the lens into a nearly appropriate directional orientation.